Food security means

Food Security

availability accessibility

affordability of food to all people

at all times

Food Security is ensured in a country only if

Enough food is available for all the persons

All persons have the capacity to buy food of acceptable quality and

There is no barrier on access to food.

Need for Food Security

For the poor sections of the society

Natural disasters or calamity like

earthquake, drought, flood, tsunami,

Widespread crop failure due to drought

How drought affects food security

Prices

Some peoplecannot afford to buy food = Food

Insecurity

Drought takes place

Totalproduction of food grains

Shortage of food in the affected areas

Starvation

If such calamity happens in a very wide spread area or is

stretched over a longer time period, it may cause a

situation of starvation.

FamineA massive starvation might take a turn of famine.

A Famine is characterized by

• widespread deaths

• epidemics

Famines and Starvation Deaths in India

The Bengal FamineThe worst famine that was occur in India before the freedom of

INDIA. It was occured in 1943. It nearly killed 1.5 million to 3

million.

The Bihar famineIt was the second most worst famine that occured 1966-1967. It was

found that nearly 2500 deaths occured due to starvation.

Starvation deaths have also been reported in: 1. Kalahandi and Kashipur in Orissa

2. Baran district of Rajasthan,

3. Palamau district of Jharkhand

and many other remote areas during the recent

years.

Food Insecure Groups

landless people

traditional artisans

Homeless, beggars etc.

petty self-employed workers

traditional services providers

Families employed in ill-paid occupations

casual labourers (seasonal activities+ very low wages)

SCs, STs and some sections of the OBCs (lower castes among them) –having poor land-base or

very low land productivity

Migrants ( as a result of natural disasters )

Women and children

States facing problem of food insecurity

Uttar Pradesh (eastern and south-eastern parts)

Bihar

Jharkhand

Orissa

West Bengal

Chhattisgarh

Parts of Madhya Pradesh

Maharashtra

Hunger, another aspect of Food Insecurity

Inadequate diet for a long time

Poor people suffer from chronic hunger

Chronic Hunger Due agricultural

activities-rural regions & urban

areas- casual labour

When a person is unable to get work for the entire year

Seasonal Hunger

India’s attempts at attaining Food Security

Highest

Growth

Punjab and

Haryana

Tamil Nadu

and Andhra

Pradesh

Low

Growth

Maharashtra,

Madhya

Pradesh

Bihar, Orissa

and the N-E

states

Green Revolution: Food grain Production

India’s Food SecuritySystem

Buffer

Stock

Public

Distribution

System

Food Security

System of India

How the Public Distribution System works

Farmers or Producers

States

Fair Price Shops

F.C.I (maintains

Buffer Stocks)

Grains MSP

Allocates Grains

Central Issue Price

C.I.P Distributes Grains

Government schemes

0 PDS (Iinitial Public Distribution System scheme)

0 RPDS (Revamped Public Distribution System)

0 TPDS (Targeted Public Distribution System)

Special Schemes

0 AAY (Antyodaya Anna Yojana)

0 APS (Annapurna Scheme)

Food Security Schemes in INDIA

Benefits from the PDS:

0 Stabilizes prices of food grains

0 Makes food available at affordable prices

0 By supplying food from surplus regions of the country to the deficit ones, it helps in combating hunger and famine

0 Prices set with poor households in mind

0 Provides income security to farmers in certain regions

Problems faced by PDS Problem of Hunger still exists in many areas of India

Food stock in granaries often above specified levels

Deterioration in quality of stored food grains if kept for longer time

High storage costs

Increase in MSP has led to shift from coarse grain to rice and wheat production among the farmers

Cultivation of rice has also led to environmental degradation and fall in the water level

Average consumption of PDS grain at the all-India level is very low

Malpractices on part of PDS dealers:

Diverting the grains to open market to get better margin,

Selling poor quality grains at ration shops,

Irregular opening of the shops

Low Income families earning just above poverty line have to pay APL rates which are almost equal to open market rates – lower incentive to buy from Fair Price Shops